Bosnians, U.n. Dispute Serb Compliance

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — A dispute erupted on Wednesday between the Bosnian government and U.N. officials over the degree of Serbian compliance with an ultimatum to leave the town of Gorazde.

The dispute threatened to undermine new Bosnian peace talks before they have even begun.

Lt. Gen. Sir Michael Rose, commander of U.N. forces in Bosnia, said after visiting Gorazde on Wednesday that all Serbian forces had moved more than 1.9 miles from the city center - apart from "six armed policemen, if you want to count them."

But Bosnian Prime Minister Haris Silajdzic contested that.

"The fact is the Serbs are not complying with the exclusion zone," he said.

"Our people in Gorazde can see the Serb forces and, whoever they are, they are armed. I have today complained to NATO over this, and until there is full compliance, the international community lacks the credibility to give any impetus to peace talks."

Rose did nothing to repair the rift when, during his visit to Gorazde, he told British soldiers that in his view the Bosnian Muslim forces around the town had turned and run "because they want us to fight their war for them."Later, after a videotape of the remarks began circulating in Sarajevo, officials close to the general tried to play down his remarks.

Diplomats from the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, representing a "contact group" set up earlier this week to try to end the two-year Bosnian war, are expected in Sarajevo on Thursday for the new group's first talks with the Bosnian government.

Silajdzic produced a report that he said was sent on Wednesday by the Bosnian army commander in Gorazde, Ferid Bolzubassic.

The report said Serbian forces had not withdrawn beyond three kilometers - the distance required under a NATO ultimatum that expired on Saturday - and that U.N. forces were allowing Serbian civilians to settle surrounding villages previously inhabited by Muslims.

U.N. officials rejected that account. But there appeared to be a slight difference of view between Rose and the top U.N. civil affairs official in the Balkans, Sergio Vieira de Mello, who went into Gorazde on Saturday and returned to Sarajevo on Wednesday.

De Mello said the United Nations lacked the resources to comb the hills on the east bank of the Drina River, where Serbian forces were entrenched during their assault.